Rachel Maclean, the MP for Redditch County, has welcomed the decision by the Department of Health & Social Care to award Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust more than £500,000 to help them improve their facilities for people with mental health problems.
The Trust, which is responsible for providing mental health services for Redditch residents, was successful in its bid for funding from Prime Minister Theresa May’s Beyond Places of Safety grants scheme.
To improve pathways for patients experiencing a mental health crisis in Worcestershire, the Trust has been awarded £591,936 to develop a clinical area at Newtown Hospital which will be staffed by specialist crisis practitioners who can carry out assessments and develop urgent support plans.
This new area will be a modern and welcoming ‘handover’ space where staff can confirm essential details about the patient and ask any key clinical or risk information in order to complete a formal handover process. This would then allow the specialist team to determine the correct clinical pathway for referred patients.
The clinical area will also house a number of triage and assessment rooms which will allow clinicians to determine any immediate safety needs and complete assessment interviews.
It’s hoped this new service will reduce unnecessary visits to A&E by providing easier access routes to mental health services. It will also act as a self-referral point for any patients experiencing a mental health crisis.
Worcestershire Health & Care NHS Trust is one of 51 successful Trusts to be awarded a cash boost from the £15million capital funding grants scheme.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced the scheme in January 2017 in a bid to improve facilities for supporting people who are vulnerable to, experiencing, or recovering from a mental health crisis.
The Beyond Places of Safety grants scheme follows on from a previous grants scheme to improve health and community based places of safety for those detained under the Mental Health Act, which has already awarded £11.2million. This scheme has been associated with a 90 per cent decrease in the number of detentions in police cells under the Act.
It was also announced recently that Worcestershire Health & Care NHS Trust has been rated among the best in the country for its overall performance. The Trust has been placed in ‘Segment 1’ by NHS Improvement which supports Trusts across the country to provide safe care to patients. There are four segments with 1 being the best.
Rachel said: “I’m delighted Worcestershire Health & Care NHS Trust has been awarded £591,936 by the Department of Health & Social Care to improve services at the Trust’s specialist unit for mental health provision. This cash boost will make sure people get the specialist support they need during and after a mental health crisis.
“It is absolutely vital there is continued investment in to our mental health services here in Worcestershire to ensure help and support is available to people in their time of need.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Trust on being rated as among the best in the country for their overall performance. It’s clear the hard-working healthcare professionals are providing first-class services for the people of Redditch. I’m sure the whole town will join me in recognising the Trust’s achievement.”